


Freak

by DixieDale



Category: Clan O'Donnell - Fandom, Garrison's Gorillas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-01
Updated: 2018-06-01
Packaged: 2019-05-15 18:41:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14795873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DixieDale/pseuds/DixieDale
Summary: They might have looked like an odd pair, a true Mutt and Jeff, but they were friends.  Friends were supposed to look out for each other, Willie knew that, though he'd never really had a friend before.  So when Doby confided in Willie about the danger, the big man knew he had to do something about it.





	Freak

His name was William Rivers. People called him Willie, Wee Willie to be precise. They joked that his name should have been Mountain, not Rivers. Private Rivers was easily the tallest man Goniff had ever seen, and probably the all round biggest, and truly looked much like a mountain, big, craggly and very, very solid.

"'Seems like a nice enough bloke, 'e does," Goniff told the others after meeting the huge man. "Which is good, cause I sure wouldn't want 'im mad at me, that's for certain."

"He as big as they say down at the Pub?" Casino asked.

"At least," answered Chief, with a shake of his head. "But Goniff's right, seems alright. Caught us coming back over the wall the other night; just laughed and told us we should be in bed, and when the other guard started to get a little rough, didn't take much more than a frown from Rivers to get him to back off. Big guy just shoo'd us off like we were a flock of ducks or somethin." 

Soon it was nothing out of the ordinary to see them, a true Mutt and Jeff, wandering the paths, talking; sitting next to each other on the grass, watching clouds or a flock of birds or whatever. There were some who were amused, and there was one who watched, with a sly grin, a plan forming in his twisty little mind. One afternoon it was just right; the team had left on a mission, all except Casino who was still battling a case of pneumonia, on the mend but not mission-ready.

The troublemaker siddled up to the big man, "Bet you miss your little buddy, huh?" and got a solemn nod. "Likeable little chap; pity it is, about him and that woman, you know. A real pity. Shame to see a nice little guy like that get hurt." And proceeded to drop his opinion into the listening ears, grinning to himself at the increasingly distressed look on the big man's face.

 

Dr. Riley shook his head, in sorrow. "Willie, no, is that what you prefer to be called? Willie?"

"They call me Wee Willie," the big man whispered.

"Yes, I know, but what do YOU want to be called??!"

"I let Goniff call me Bill; I like that, a lot," came the reply.

"Will you let me call you Bill, too?" and the reply came only as a shy nod.

"Bill, you need to understand. She loves him. No, don't shake your head in denial, son, it's true. She's the one who asked me to come here, because the doctor before me hurt the men on his team, hurt him, didn't treat him well and actually HURT him! I've seen her lie to protect him. I've known her to kill to protect him. She looks at him with, oh Bill, what can I say, with such love, such tenderness, such respect, it almost tears at my heart. She cooks and bakes for him, even though she doesn't have a sweet tooth, not at all; still, her kitchen always has something special waiting for him. She writes songs just for him. She's put herself in between him and so many dangers, she's welcomed him into her cottage and into her life, she's given him the freedom to be himself, not wear any of the disguises he's had to wear almost all his life! Bill, he is the most precious thing in this world to her! I KNOW what your father told you, but it's not true, not with her. She's no whore; she's not trying to hurt him; she is HIS, and he is HERS, and she will walk beside him with pride, will die to protect him."

Bill sat, and sat, and thought and thought; the sitting part was easy - the thinking part took more effort.

"I wish I hadn't hurt her, then." He sat and thought some more, "Dr. Riley, does that mean my dad may have been wrong about Rose, too?"

"Rose?" Dr Riley asked.

"Yes, a girl at my village. I thought I loved her, and I thought she loved me too; she said so! But my dad said she was a whore, that only a whore would look at a freak like me, and only to use me for her own fun, and she'd make me cry, so he made me join the army and go away."

Dr. Riley didn't know what to say; he had no way of knowing, of course.

"Bill, do you want me to try and find out? Can you give me her name, where she lives? I can see if she's still there, if she'd want to see you." And the eager expression on the big man's face gave his reply for him.

 

"It was something to see, lass. AJ and I drove up there, and Caeide met us; we'd asked her to, seeing how she's such a good judge of people, and it being Clan business in a way. A cottage on the edge of the village, woman maybe a bit older than Bill, steady sort, not pretty as such but pleasant, a plain commonsense type, making her own way by taking in laundry and doing cleaning, whatever else comes available. Wary of us, well, of course she would be, us just showing up out of the blue. But, oh, Meghada, the look on her face when she heard we'd come about Bill. First, scared to death, poor thing, thinking something had happened to him. Well, it had, of course, but we got her past that."

"Yes, she remembers him, how couldn't she; yes, she'd loved him, still loved him, but his father put a stop to it, sent him away. Yes, she's canny enough, knows quite well he is NOT, but she loves him and that's enough for her. Well, you know the rest."

"Caeide came up with the notion of asking Rose if she'd like to move here, at least for now, into one of those two cottages you and the Clan just bought when the Smithers family left, after their parents died and left them that property up north. AJ is ready to take on an assistant; she'd do nicely and that would let her provide for herself. She could see Bill when he's not on duty, see if they still have feelings for each other, enough to make a match of it. Caeide didn't mention it to Rose, but she told me that after the war, if the two of them would like, she would find a place for them on or near Haven; she knows Elis Tanner would like to have an apprentice, and heaven knows Bill is big enough for that, if he's not afraid of the fires, and some are, you know. So, the upshot of it, Alice and Mrs. Wilson and I are readying the bigger of the cottages, with funds Caeide gave us, bless her sweet heart! and we will fetch Alice this weekend! Bill is all a twitter!"

Meghada returned Sheila's delighted smile. "I am so glad! I was afraid this would have no good ending, and really, he would never have hurt me except for trying to protect Goniff, and I can hardly fault him too much there. I've done the same, certainly, though hopefully with more true cause. His understanding is not of the highest, and all that his father poured into him, it hardly helped, did it? Nor a lot of the talk he heard around here, and believe me, I'll be having a few words with Doby when I get able for the part HE played in this!"

She shifted uncomfortably on the bed, a bed she'd be more than happy to be quit of, at least for awhile. A full week it'd been, and she wanted so much to be back on her own two feet before the team, before her own laddie, returned from that mission they'd left on before this whole thing had started.

"How are we explaining all this away?" Casino asked, from his position up against the wall.

"Well, luckily, thanks to you, the only people who know about this, other that us three, are my AJ, Ben Miller, Sergeant Major, and Bill, of course. None of us will go spreading the word, at least, we hope we can get Bill to cooperate with that. We've told him to say "I don't want to talk about it," to any that ask, to say nothing more and stick to that, and call on the Sergeant Major if any get too insistent. So, the story is - Bill ran afoul of a child, supposedly your young cousin actually, Meghada, who was visiting and who'd found the gun laying around and thought to bring it to you, but didn't know how to handle it properly, accidentally shooting Bill who surprised him while on his rounds, that accounting for his gunshot wound from Ben Tanner. And yes, young Carus is most amused by the notion of him being so careless and unknowledgeable about weapons, but no Outlander is going to question a small boy doing just that, and placing no blame but a mild scolding, which he took in all cowed humility and repentence, bless him. He said to tell you he is honored by being allowed to help Meghada ru Dragan. By sheer coincidence, Meghada took a tremendous fall into that gully back of her woodlot, 'right embarrassed she is, too, being so clumsy. Hurt her back and shoulder right fierce, she did, and other assorted cuts and bruises, though recovering nicely. No, she's not up for visitors; well, whenever was she! Although I'm sure your kind thoughts will not go amiss!' Sheila gave a satisfied chuckle.

Casino shook his head in amused wonder, "got it all tucked away neat as a pin. Question is, how much of this are you gonna tell Goniff? Are you gonna tell HIM the truth?"

"Yeah, you gonna tell ME the truth?" came from the doorway, where a small, slender blond man lounged, a stern look on his face, mouth tight, not a sign of his usual cheeky grin. He might not have heard the conversation, but that last question? Well, that he'd heard, and that set him on edge, to say the least! Amazing it was, how different he looked without that grin, with none of that innocence or mischief in his eyes.

All started guiltily, except for Meghada. Her face, her voice held only joy at the sight of him, "you're home! Are you alright, then, you, the others?" and he couldn't hold the frown any longer, not at that eager wholehearted greeting.

"We're fine, all of us. Got back awhile ago, got cleaned up. Warden asked about Casino; Sergeant Major said 'e was probably down 'ere, seeing about you, seeming you'd 'ad an accident. We came on down to check on both of you," as he came forward to perch on the side of the bed, dropping a kiss on her head, noting the pained slowness with which she moved into his embrace.

"We?"

And from the doorway, Craig Garrison spoke up, "yes, we. Now, this 'truth'?" and if Goniff's face had lost its sternness, well, it was made up for by the look on Garrison's face.

And they looked at each other, deciding who was to be the one to tell the tale.

Casino started, "I was gettin antsy, up there all alone, and was feeling a lot better, so came down to see if Meghada needed some company, or," he admitted with a wry grin, "whether she'd been baking and maybe needed someone to give their opinion, you know. I get here, knock at the door, and she opens it, all marked up, telling me to go away, she had no time for any of my nonsense. Not mean like, but firm, but could tell something was really wrong the way her eyes looked. She flashed me a couple of our field signals, enough I could tell what she wanted, which was for me to get out of there and get help, specific help. I hurried and got Ben Miller and Dr. Riley, come back to banging around, like a real row was goin on. We go in and she's down, hurt, just trying to keep away from him, trying to keep it from getting too bad til we got there."

"WHO??" Goniff snarled.

"Wait, love, before you get so angry; there's a lot to this, and not what you'd think," Meghada urged him, her hand firmly on his.

"Private Rivers, he'd gone off the deep end, looked like, and Meghada right in his sights," Casino interjected, to the incredulous looks from Goniff and Garrison.

"BILL??!" Goniff asked, shocked. "BILL hurt her? But, why?"

"I'll get to that, or maybe one of the others, but . . . Anyways, Ben can't get him to listen, to back off, ends up pulling his gun and has to put a bullet in him, not bad; took him down, maybe more in surprise than in anything else, but got him to stop."

Sheila Riley took over, "AJ called me to come help, and together we got the bleeding stopped for Bill; got Meghada in here and started dealing with her injuries. And, yes, she's hurt, lad, but she'll be alright. Pretty much what she'd have gotten from a bad fall in that gully to the back, which is what we've put about the village as what's happened. It'll just take a bit of healing time, she's had worse, so get that look out of your eyes. They called Sergeant Major and moved Bill down to our house, it taking all of them together, even with him now cooperating. He'll stay there til he's mended enough to go back to the Mansion."

Garrison spoke up from his seated position on the other side of the bed, "but why? What caused him to go off like that, come after her?" And that's when the looks became more troubled, and the full story came out.

Goniff wasn't looking angry anymore, just upset. "I still don't understand; 'e's never 'eard anything like that from me, no reason for 'im to think that."

"Doubt you've ever really talked about her with him in the first place, have you?" Casino asked, since the two of them were still pretty much keeping things quiet, and Goniff nodded at the truth of that.

"But then, who?"

Sheila got a grim look to her face, and her mouth was straight with annoyance and more, "he'd heard talk, someone made sure of that, you know how there's some likes to cause trouble. Well, it was enough to start him worrying about you, and with more talk to nudge him along, he decided he needed to do something before you got back. He counts you pretty much his only real friend, lad, and he thought he needed to protect you."

Casino thought ruefully about the time he'd come to the cottage pretty much for the same purpose, but not with such violent intent, him just lashing out with words, not his fist.

"AJ explained the right of things to him, and the poor boy is awful downcast at his hurting her now. He's wanting to come make his apologies when he's able, and to say his 'I'm sorry's' to you as well, Goniff. Did you hear how we're explaining this, and about his Rose?"

To their puzzled headshakes, those two pieces of the story were repeated.

"So 'is father told 'im 'e's a freak? Thought I 'ad it bad enough, mine just saying I wasn't 'is, couldn't be 'is, from my looks. Well, turns out 'e was right about that, acourse, but 'e never called me a ruddy freak!"

"So you won't be angry with him, please?" Meghada pleaded.

She got rueful smiles from both Goniff and Craig, "no, luv, don't know 'ow I really could be, considering it all, not as long as you're alright."

"No, not angry, but do AJ and Gil think he's stable enough to resume duty? Can't have him going off like that, he could cause real harm to someone," Garrison worried.

"They think so, actually; there's never been any other occasion like this, and this was a highly unusual set of circumstances, you know. See, he felt like Goniff was like, maybe, in the same, well . . ."

And Goniff gave a wry grin, "ya mean 'e thought I was a freak too, just like 'im only at the other end of things, so 'im being bigger, 'e needed to look after me?" and got a reluctant nod of the head.

Craig was getting tightlipped again, and Goniff just said, "I've 'eard enough of the like, through the years; makes no nevermind, not as long as those who matter don't agree with it," and gave a rather forced smile.

"Those who matter, DON'T," he was told firmly, gently, and he nodded, knowing that full well now.

Later, talking it over in the Common Room, Casino, who like Coura, never could leave an awkward issue alone, said, "ya said your father said you wasn't his? Why'd he think that?"

"Well, a big, brawny fellow 'e was, and dark 'air and all. Still, 'e was right, acourse, though I didn't know for sure 'e was right til I got 'ere." He paused to take a sip at the glass of whiskey in front of him.

"See, they were 'aving a bad spell, 'im being out of work, and a job opened up in one of the big 'ouses for a maid. Not the usual for them, the toffs, to be putting the word out in the East End; that sort usually 'ired from the country or upwards. This set, though, seems they tried for East End when they could; bad rep they 'ad, for the treatment of the women, but seems my father just told Mum to be real careful and real smart and she'd be fine, and they needed the ready, you know."

He grunted in derision, "that was my father, always on the lookout for 'is family, 'e was. Real careful and real smart just weren't enough maybe, and a few months later, 'ere's me, blond 'air, blue eyes, what little there was of me, which wasn't much. Never knew, though, for sure, not til . . . Well, can you just guess which of the fancy 'ouseholds she spent the time in?" he snorted.

"Redmond, I would guess? Sir David, Sir Peter? That would have made Charles Redmond, what, your brother, cousin?" Actor spoke up.

"Most like, but with those blokes, you can't tell for sure. They 'ad the rep for not being particular which bed they ended up in, you know, even with their own families. Most likely their brother, Andrew was the one what was responsible for me, though maybe not. That one, 'ad a rep for not being able to get it going with one of 'is own class, including 'is wife; only able to do it with one of the lower classes, and 'ad a special fancy for the East Enders. 'Is own kids, darker, like 'is brothers; everyone figured they'd kinda given 'im a bit of 'elp there, you know? Blond, blue eyes, Andrew 'ad, like me Mum. Now Sir David, 'e's dark, like Charles was. Sir Peter, in between, brown 'air, brown eyes. Andrew Redmond got 'is self shot for some mischief long time ago. Ain't much in that family I've any interest in claiming, more worrying about the bad blood seems to run through it. W'at's really funny, that bloke who came 'ere pretending to be me?; we talked a bit; told me 'is mum was an actress, Sir David kept 'er set up for awhile, figures that's where 'e gets 'is looks."

He shook his head sorrowfully, "bad blood, for sure, but at least they're good looking blokes, ei??!" with that cheeky grin of his.

And Casino reached over to slap him firmly on top of that tousled blond head, "you wish, Limey!"


End file.
